Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using the example of rejoicing at U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan — itself a non-virtuous act, since delight in others’ harmful actions generates negative karma — Geshe Pema Tsering illuminates how confusion and attachment drive the accumulation of misdeeds. In this 45-minute session he first traces Tsongkhapa’s two great obstacles (disturbing emotions and death) to their antidotes: purification, merit accumulation, and especially bodhicitta and great compassion. The main focus is a verse-by-verse commentary on confession, the fourth limb of the seven-limb prayer: visualizing the refuge field, recalling non-virtues from beginningless saṃsāra, and beginning the four forces with repentance. A poison analogy captures the quality of genuine regret required; the image of the kumuda flower — blooming and wilting in the same instant — drives home the urgency of purifying before death arrives unexpectedly.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 15 Guide.mp3
UUID: 95d6f13c-605a-4d33-8d2d-6db0def6d263
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Bodhisattva Way of Life 2002 Month 01-03 (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2002 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.0 minutes
Words: ~2,937
The great master Tsongkhapa has stated that the main obstacles for the fortunate ones are there are two which are the obstacles or obstruct can you hear me? The obstruct or obstruction or obstructions of the mind and the obstructions of the body. The the mind of the and the disturbing emotion or confusion is the is the one which disrupts or disturbs the mind, and the the the lord of death is the one which destroys the body. These these are the two main obstacles for the fortunate ones. So those two, the confusion or the disturbing emotions and the death are the two main obstacles for the one to practices.
So in order to get rid of those two obstacles, one needs to practice in the teachings through meditations and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings and teachings and so forth. And so and when we divided that disturbing or disturbing emotion or confusion, it it can be classified into two classified into two called the ignorance which ignorance towards the law of cause and effect and ignorance towards the suchness or emptiness. So ignorance towards the law of cause and effect means that the miss the not understanding or yeah. Not understanding the the law of cause causes and effects. And ignorance towards the suchness or emptiness, which means the same, suchness, emptiness, or to which offset wants to wants from understanding that true reality or more true mode of existence of the phenomena.
So so briefly speaking then, the the which or what makes one undergoes through the sufferings or and the circles circles in the cyclic existence are the non virtuous actions. So and non virtuous actions like like the killings or the rest of the ten non virtuous actions. And how one one cultivates those ten non-virtuous actions, it is those actions are committed through the ignorance or not understanding the reality. No. So So therefore, in order to get rid of that ignorance that ignorant one should realize one should acknowledge the causes of causes or the cause of that ignorance in which is that ignorance apprehends the true existence of the phenomena, like inherently existent of the phenomena.
So therefore in order to get rid of that ignorance one should get rid of its causes which is the the selflessness of phenomena. So to so technically, get rid of that ignorance, one needs to realize or cultivate the wisdom realizing emptiness. And to to to to attain or or, yeah, to attain such the wisdom realizing emptiness, one needs to cultivate numbers of accumulation of merits and practices and so forth just by mere listening to the teaching and having a good faculty or a sharp sharp faculty doesn’t necessarily help helps one to realize wisdom, realizing emptiness. And so one needs to cultivate or engages in the practices of purification and the cultivation of merits. So in every practices, when we do the practices of hearing or listening, contemplating or contemplation and the meditation, those three practices help one to cultivate the the positive actions or the merits and get and and and abandons the the non virtuous actions.
But but they do help one in such practices. But the main the very effective practice the very effective ones are the the practice of bodhicitta or the bodhicitta or altruistic intention and yeah, and and meditating on the great compassion are the very effective ones to cultivate numbers of merit or collection of merit and the purification of the misdeeds. And in order to cultivate the bodhicitta or yeah, cultivate the bodhicitta, one has to proceed the practices of sevenfold cause and effect instruction like recognizing all sentient beings as one’s mother, repaying their kind remembering their kindness, repaying their kindness, and seeing them with a very appealing love. And so forth, there are two others. And in order to generate all those sevenfold cause and effect instructions, like, as we we have just said, you know, seeing them as a mother and so forth.
In order to to cultivate all those paths within one path within one’s one’s mind, one has to train in the common path and Yeah. And to generate the the renunciation or or train yeah. One should proceed in the practice of three trainings. Three trainings, and yeah. Do those are the Those are the in common.
So those are the common practices, like training in the three trainings and renunciations and so forth. And to practice those, first one has to practice in the the. You have to be taking refuge and so forth. And in order to have or develop a proper or yeah. Develop a proper refuge within the proper refuge one needs to have a one needs to see, one needs to develop a fear that fear towards suffering of of cyclic existence and and particular of the sufferings of the lower realms or bad migrations and should have a mind develop, a mind that all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have the potential to protect one from the suffering of cyclic existence and yeah.
First one should develop a mind which fears, which feel or which helps one to fear towards the suffering, fear oneself of the sufferings of the cyclic existence and the lower yep. And lower rebirths. And by knowing this, then transfer such thought towards the entire sentient beings that they will have a wish that all this seeing that all the sentient, motherly sentient beings are undergoing through the sufferings of cyclic existence and so forth. And in order to and and develop a wish to free all motherly sentient beings from the sufferings. So and so and through this, by seeing can’t and seeing all these motherly sentient beings undergoes through huge suffering, and one can’t bear to see those sentient beings undergoes through those sufferings and wishing to help or free them from motherly free motherly sentient beings from the entire sufferings.
And by doing such, one develops a great compassion and the intention. So on such a mind or such a yeah. For on such mind, the great compassion and the altruistic intention, we shall do a short meditation here. Yes. So in the previous classes, we have went through we have generate or visualize the the refuge fields or refuge object, and then had first one and second one have taken refuge.
And the third one have done the make making offerings. Now we are onto the fourth limb or fourth part, which is doing confessions. So yeah. So now and as for the fourth the the confession or perfect confession or a purification session or a part, it has three divisions. The visualizing the object where one confessed or purified all the negative actions, and the second one the second division is confessing the the negativities and the transgressions in general.
And the third one is and purifying through applying four forces. So now and so the first one, the visualizing the the object where one confesses or purifies the negative, say, the negative non virtues are the the which is is twenty seventh, verse number twenty seventh. You got the text with everyone? Yeah. And now here, the the meaning of that verse is that now one one is confessing or confessing or purifying one’s non virtuous actions in front of the Buddha’s the Buddha’s the victorious ones, Buddha’s, bodhisattvas of the ten directions of the ten directions.
And it’s not just confessing one, confessing with a great regret. It is and for example, if you demonstrate what kind of regret one has is, for example, like three persons and all of them had eaten a poison in one restaurant in their food. And the one person died and second person is seriously ill from eating that poison. And the third person is not has eaten, but not feeling anything at the moment, but he knows that he has eaten the same stuff together. I’m the same as they did.
So now he feels regret that he has eaten such and such food. Now what he’s going to do not to get sick so and so and so forth? So that kind of regret one needs here. And and as I and we are on that is the first session. And the second is first subdivision.
And the second subdivision is purifying the general yep. Yeah. Yep. Purifying the the Yep. The purifying or yeah.
Purifying the gen purifying the negativities or non virtues and the transgression in general, which is the second, it’s been demonstrated by the rest next five verses for that could be from twenty eight till Thirty two. Yeah. From twenty eight till thirty two, the verse. Yeah. Yes.
So and the meaning of all those verses is that saying that there is no beginning of entire sentient beings, particular oneself. One can’t pinpoint where one has or where one started from. It’s beginningless now. And so one has been wandering or circling the cyclic existence from the very beginningless time, and one is still circling in the cyclic existence currently. And and one will in future, unless one attained, obtained the nirvana or liberation state.
Yeah. And so since one has been circling in the cyclic existence from the very beginningless, and during those period up till now and will be in future, unless one attains liberation, one one cult one has cultivate and one will cultivate numbers of of of non virtuous actions and through one’s own purpose one’s own purposes. And also one has and one will cultivate the non virtuous actions due to attachment towards their relatives, parents, brothers, sisters and so forth and had cultivate numbers of non virtuous actions through hatred towards the one’s enemies or all those who one doesn’t like, dislikes. And not only one cultivates the non-virtuous actions by oneself, but also not only oneself, one encourages or one one one helps others to cultivate the non virtuous actions like encouraging or telling one’s relatives, parents, brothers and sisters to asking, telling them to do such and such and such. And so not only oneself, one also let others to cultivate non virtuous actions.
And and all those non virtuous actions one has cultivated and how it how it happened, it is because of those confusions or or disturbing emotions. It that let one to cultivate all those non virtuous actions. And as a result and who go who will undergoes through or undergoes through the result of those disturbing emotions? It is oneself. And so yep.
One cultivates such sort of non virtuous actions through ignorance. Not only that, one also cultivates the non virtuous actions through rejoicing the others’ misdeeds. For example, like like some people for example, like, yeah, some people rejoicing at Americans attacking Taliban in Afghanistan. You know, they’re rejoicing that what Americans are doing or what American has America has done to the Taliban. So and and such a rejoice rejoicing is is non virtuous actions because one is rejoicing towards the bad misdeeds by others.
Yes. Doing so, one cultivates numbers of non virtuous actions. But if one do it in opposite way, instead of rejoicing rejoicing the misdeeds of America if one feels or one felt compassion towards the Americans what they have done, a feeling compassion that they shouldn’t be doing this because by such actions they will lead themselves into lower rebirths or a bad migrations and also feel compassionate or develop compassion towards those who died in in such died during such incident or a disaster. By doing so, one cultivates numbers of virtuous actions. So this is the moment.
So today from up till now, that today one accepts and one realizes that one has been or one is still doing, cultivating such such all those disturbing all all those non virtuous actions. And by knowing so, one feel through one one confesses and get getting one develops a great regret towards all those misdeeds of oneself and confessing or purifying those negative non virtuous actions in front of all the Buddhas Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. So here, one is making a pledge or a promise in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and and and purifying the all non virtuous actions one have cultivated. Through body, speech, and mind, one have cultivated the various types of of non virtuous actions through the Buddha’s Buddhadharma and Sangha and one through by neglecting them and so forth. And for Bodhisattvas, arhats or for the śrāvakas, the practitioners of hearers and solitary realizers one’s parents and so forth.
So one, at this moment, one feels huge regrets towards the any sorts of non virtuous actions what one had cultivated, and with great regret confesses all those non virtuous actions in front of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. So briefly speaking, then what what it what it implies or it means is one should remind oneself all the non virtuous actions what one has done in this present life and recalling all those misdeeds or non virtuous actions in this life, and then the previous and the previous and the previous. And by doing so, one feel fear towards non non virtuous actions, but one has cultivated and then regret towards those and confess in front of Buddhas of the ten directions. So, yeah, so once you recall all those non virtuous actions one had cultivated and developed a fear towards what one has what one has done and then confess in front of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. And one it is important for one to develop fear towards those non virtuous actions and regret and and yeah.
Regret and confess in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas because because it is guarantee for one to die, and we can probably say then may not be able to stay a hundred years or stay to a hundred years. So and therefore, it’s very it’s it’s a guarantee what one one will die and not sure when. Therefore, it is important because if one if one dies before purifying all the negative or non virtuous actions, then it will cause huge sufferings towards oneself. So this is how why it is important to recall and fear towards the non-virtuous actions and confess in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and knowing that confessing in front of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas by saying that it is it all those has been have been cultivated through ignorance and the disturbing emotions and etcetera and etcetera and are here now confessed. So by here, it finished the second subdivision purifying or yeah.
Purifying or or or confessing the the misdeeds or non-virtuous actions in general. Now we’re on to the third one. Okay. So and now we are on to the the third third subdivision and which Must. Must.
And and which is purifying the non virtuous actions through through through applying four forces. And and that begins the first one. Right. Right. Yeah.
And the first one, out of the four forces, the four powers, the first one is the power of repentance. And and and for that, the verses start from thirty three Thirty three. It goes fourteen verses for that part, which is from thirty three. I think to forty six. Yep.
Do you want me to read? I don’t think So it it yeah. What it says is one should purify purify the negativity, the non virtuous actions very quickly or instantly because because because the the lord of death now awaits, will never say, oh, you haven’t finished your purification. I will wait for you. He the lord of death never waits to anyone.
Therefore therefore and and some people die through illness and some don’t. And we can’t guarantee that I won’t die tomorrow. I’m alive today and I will be. We can’t guarantee that can one will still be alive next day. So therefore, it is important to to to confess or purify purify the non virtuous actions on the spot or quickly or swiftly.
Yes. Yes. So, therefore, it is stated in the Jātaka tales or the birth stories of the Buddha, which means that one should one one one should purify the the non virtuous actions and should purify the non virtuous actions instantly or or or on on the spot because if not, and and you should do this and should never enjoy or wander in the happiness of the cyclic existence or should not cultivate any non virtuous actions in order to cultivate or receive cultivate the happiness of this present life or the cyclic existence. If one does this, then it is very sad because one never stays permanent permanent because because it is very momentarily each and every moment one decreases or one one yeah. Momentarily changes and and gradually one will die.
It is like the the kumuda flower. It’s the it’s like a flower which grows and never stays the same. The moment the flower has been blossomed and it it at the very second moment, it started to shrink, dried, and so forth. So if one so therefore, one should confess or purify all the negative all the negative non virtuous actions because if one does not and one fails to purify the non virtuous actions and dies, then one will one will die with huge regret and and great pain or suffering. No.